A former Islamic extremist has become the creator of an innovative campaign to convince young Muslims not to join violent jihad.

In an exclusive interview with Sky News, the creator of an online cartoon character called Abdullah-X explained how his animation aims to unpick the message of radical preachers and dissuade young Muslims from fighting in Syria and Iraq.

In an anonymous interview, he told Sky News: "It hopes to save the lives of young Muslims who believe that jihad has become some call of duty that is mimicked for them through their PlayStation experience that they now think they can do for real in some far-off land, for a cause they don't truly understand."

"Furthermore, it hopefully starts to expel myths and stereotypes and prejudices that non-Muslims may have about Islam because the only Islam they hear about is one they tend to fear nowadays."

At times the cartoon character Abdullah-X is disillusioned and angry. He sings: "You get democracy, we get its hypocrisy. You get the margin for error, we get the label of terror."

But he also asks: "Do you genuinely think that going out there to fight will affect those suffering in a positive way."

The Abdullah-X cartoons feature a disillusioned and angry young Muslim

On his journey he comes to realise violent jihad is not the answer.

The man behind Abdullah-X draws on his own experience having once followed the teachings of preachers such as Abu Hamza and Omar Bakri.

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Having been a member of banned extremist groups he describes himself as "someone who's been there, seen it, bought the T-shirt and asked for a refund".

He added: "I have the knowledge, the background and the experience to understand that narratives such as the one driven by extremist groups have beaten mainstream society in access to the internet."

"They have beaten mainstream society in content, in the ability to justify what they stand for and what they believe in, and I felt in 2012 when I started this project that unless we take a proactive step to take some of that ground back online, it will never embed itself in the off-line reality of young people."

Extremists have long known that the internet is a place where mindsets and behaviours can be shaped, but Abdullah-X directly challenges these radical beliefs.

At one point the cartoon asks: "You have to kill others to make your world purer. This is what you think Islam is? Are you for real?"

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Its creator said: "I came to that conclusion probably through a mixture of two realisations. One, the people spewing out this message, 90% of them didn't have the heart or conviction to go and do anything like this themselves.

"Certainly individuals who I came into contact with who adopted the mantra of being a Sheikh or a scholar ultimately became the same individuals who were happy to claim government benefits.

"I realised therefore that unless I’m confident that I have the appropriate picture of my faith, I will always be seeing it through the lens of these kind of people. It took me a long time to understand that."